October 2020 Rockwall Real Estate Update

Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. This is for anyone interested to know what’s happening in the Rockwall real estate market. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into an easily understandable and quick update.
 
I’m your host, Jennifer Shannon. I’m a Realtor with the Patty Turner Group at Keller Williams. Here’s your update for the month now that September’s numbers are in.
 
Interest Rates
http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
Let’s start with interest rates. They’re pretty much the same as they’ve been, which is low. Very low. We’re currently at an average rate of 2.87% with .8% in fees and points. Over the last month we’ve seen the sloping line flatten out as the economic rebound has slowed. These near record-low rates have continued to generate a strong buyer demand with more affordable regions of the country, like the Midwest, seeing home prices increase at the highest rates over the last two decades.

Mortgage Applications
Mortgage applications give us insight into the upcoming buyer demand. Simply put, when more people apply for mortgages, it means more people are out shopping for homes.
 
For months we’ve been seeing more buyers in the market than we did during the same time last year. That still holds true for the current market where we have 21% more buyers looking for a home than this time last year.
 
There are indicators that entry-level buyer demand is on the decline. The lower priced homes are seeing slower growth and it’s likely a result of the current economic climate is affecting the hourly workers and households at the low to moderate income levels.
 
https://www.mba.org/2020-press-releases/october/mortgage-applications-increase-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey

Local Market News
For local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. These numbers are based on sales data from September.
https://ntreis.stats.10kresearch.com/stats/market
 
The average sales price is at $371,615.  That’s an 8.5% increase from September 2019.

The number of homes for sale went down from 387 homes last month to 354 homes this month. Compared to this time last year when there were 744 homes for sale, we have less than half the homes for sale. And remember, we have 21% more buyers in the market right now.

Rockwall County had 231 sales in September. We’re up 17% in the number of sales from this same time last year.
 
The average days on market is 44 days before going under contract. The median is 20 days. I wanted to look at the median this month since that data point looks at middle of the range of numbers. Here’s why. We’re seeing listings go under contract quickly and when homes are priced and presented well, multiple offers are common. And I’m not saying these homes are priced below market. No. I just mean that if you list for a fair market value and you’ve taken care to make sure your house is presentable with it being clean, clutter-free, and even staged, a lot of these get multiple offers. I was surprised at the average days on market last month because I expected it to be lower. My thinking is that because there are listings that are overpriced and not presented well, those listings are skewing the average to make it high. So the median is actually on 20 days. That’s not a lot of time for homes to sit on the market.
 
Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at 1.6 months. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take less than two months for all of the current inventory to be purchased. Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market. It’s a Sellers Market.
 
We’re down again in the number of new listings to only 248 homes listed in September. The good news is this is slightly higher than September of last year, which hopefully means prospective sellers are beginning to get the message that now is a great time to sell.
 
In percent sales price to list price, sellers only have to negotiate about 1.3% off the asking price of their home to get a sale. Last September, on average, sellers had to negotiate 4% off their asking price. When you consider our current average sales price of $371,615, that means sellers only have to negotiate about $3,700 off their asking price as opposed to this time last year when they had to negotiate almost $15,000 off their asking price.
 
Our average sales price per square foot is at $136 per square foot. In September of last year, we were at $128.
 
 
The Takeaway
If you’re a seller and your home is presented well in this market, be prepared to have your next home lined up quickly. As you can clearly see from the data, homes don’t sit long in this market.
 
How long will this trend last? Unfortunately, my crystal ball doesn’t say. The word used more than any other this year to describe our market has been, “unprecedented.” The current trend line shows that inventory will continue to be constrained and buyers will keep entering the market at levels higher than previous years to take advantage of great interest rates.
 
And that’s my market update for the month.
 
If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate in Rockwall, let’s talk. For you folks out there starting to kick around the idea of selling, really, let’s talk. We need more listings. If you want to jump straight to an estimate of what your home might sell for in today’s market, click on the link in the description of this video and plug in your home address and email to receive a comprehensive report on what’s happening in the market around your home.